Idling Position in a Plummet On Pilot Credentials

(Beijing) The 40-year-old pilot of the E190 aircraft that crashed in Yichun was lucky to escape death. But as Captain Qi Xuejun lays recovering in a hospital bed, he not only faces questions about his involvement in the crash, but also the lingering traces of a fraud case over faked credentials which included nearly 200 pilots.

Although the case was opened in as early as April 2008, details of it resurfaced after the Yichun crash. Kunpeng Airline's shareholder and operator, Shenzhen Airlines, has 103 pilots involved in the scandal – including Qi.